110 W. New York Ave.
DeLand, FL 32720
386-734-4622
BEACON PHOTO/PAT ANDREWS
Job done — From left, Rox-Anne Williams, her daughter Rai-Leigh Williams, Michael Burrell Jr., Tracey Smith, Roxanne's daughter Rei-Enne Grant, Chris Hall and Peter Grant, some of the Heart of Excellence members, conclude their Jan. 11 evening of ministry in Spring Hill. The plaques they're showing off, made by members of the youth group, will be among those that will go to Newtown, Conn., to honor each of the Sandy Hook school-shooting victims. A photo can be placed over a poem Rai-Leigh wrote that's displayed in the middle of the plaque.
BEACON PHOTO/MARSHA MCLAUGHLIN
Involved in the community — Members of Heart of Excellence walk in the 2012 DeLand Jaycees Christmas Parade.
Making a difference in DeLand
By Pat Andrews
posted Jan 18, 2013 - 11:39:09am
In DeLand, there’s a woman who keeps her eye on the young people around her, especially in Spring Hill. She prays to see them with the eyes of God, and she is determined to make a difference, to change lives and circumstances for the better.
The woman is Rox-Anne Williams, and she’s the director of the unincorporated ministry called Heart of Excellence.
She and the ministry’s youth members set up a “grocery store” in Laurel Villas before Christmas, so needy young ones could come in, get a shopping bag, and “shop” free of charge for toiletries, baby food and other items their families needed.
“Blessed Hope Church supported us,” Williams said, especially member Avis Loins.
Williams has set up forums for her youth group, with representatives from the Volusia County Health Department talking about health issues, and Officer Rod Hancock talking about drugs. {related}}Willie Bright, a DeLand city commissioner who has since died, talked to the group about principles and ethics.
Williams and the young people go into the woods in the Spring Hill area to bring food and minister to homeless people living there.
They go to the corner of Beresford and Adelle avenues on Friday evenings, in the heart of Spring Hill, to minister to drug dealers and buyers who congregate in the area.
Williams said she saw many times when nothing was done for a troubled young person until it was too late, and people could only help the family collect money for a funeral.
“We wait until they die,” she said.
Williams wants to reach these young people before there’s a need for a funeral.
She and youth-group members light candles and ask the denizens to come into the light and accept a candle.
“You do see them respond; you see them come out and light their candles. Some ask why, and we say, ‘Because we love you.’ Some don’t want prayer ... some stop and get prayer. It’s awesome,” Williams said.
The Beacon joined the group Jan. 11. Williams and some of the youth-group members prayed or sang on all four corners of the Spring Hill intersection. Some people waved or greeted them cheerfully; others ignored them. Occupants of some passing cars gawked, while others listened to their stereos and ignored the street ministers.
Three young men accepted prayer.
Heart of Excellence sometimes goes to the intersection of Beresford and Florida avenues, where streetwalkers ply their trade. Williams had noticed the ladies of the evening when she was in a nearby trailer park.
“It weighed heavy on my heart,” she said.
Williams took it up with the youth group, and they decided to go there, too, sometimes staying until 11 p.m.
If nothing else, the minister and the ministry group scare off the customers, whom Williams has seen circling the block, hoping her group will leave.
But, the ministry has also had an effect on the women. One woman went back to her crack house and wrote a poem about it.
Williams said she tries to listen to the people she serves, and to God, and speak what God says — not her own opinion.
Heart of Excellence meets every week at the Creative Arts Cafe in Lake Helen, where they meet and talk confidentially, sharing problems, getting encouragement and learning life skills, such as how to shop for groceries, budget, and balance a checkbook. The regular attendance is 20-some, and can run to 30 or more for a special program.
Williams drives an old van to pick up the young people and get them to meetings and ministry efforts. She’s hoping sponsors will come forward to help her buy a newer van.
DeLand Nissan has offered Williams a special deal plus a donation on a 2005 Dodge van, 10 years newer than the one she has now. Williams needs another $2,417 to buy it. She’s counting on help from above to direct donors to her.
Pastor Anthony Brown of Mount Sinai Christian Fellowship in DeLand and the founder of Back to Basics II Outreach Ministry has been a mentor and supporter to Williams. Back to Basics reaches out to offenders and ex-offenders.
“I met her when I first got into town some seven years ago,” Brown said. “She’s a sister in Christ and a true friend to my wife and I.”
Williams became good friends with Katherine, Brown’s wife, he said.
Williams was involved in a different church then, one, Brown said, that didn’t really see her vision, but she was intent on feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and sharing the Word with those who are lost.
“She’s fearless,” Brown said, adding that Williams refuses to let anything hold her back, even the four walls of a church. She doesn’t sugarcoat anything, and she doesn’t have a hidden agenda.
Williams does the work, but doesn’t go bragging about it. She gives God all the glory, he added.
During the sixth annual Back to Basics awards banquet in November, Williams was presented with the humanitarian award.
“It was a major surprise,” she said.
The beginning
Williams grew up in a “disconnected” family in the Westchester-Bronx area of New York.
“I had to listen, listen to God,” Williams said. That kept her off drugs, she added.
God started speaking to her when Williams was 15. She also remembers two friends who encouraged her.
“I realized later, that’s my purpose, to be an encourager,” she said.
She got involved in ministry as a teen. Her local ministry began in 2001, after Williams moved to DeLand “with three toddlers and $130 in my pocket,” and got an apartment in a complex on Spring Garden Avenue.
She had heard someone in her church in New York speak about ministering in DeLand, and Williams came to DeLand on a faith walk.
When she got her apartment, Williams said she noticed a lot of teens around the complex were into vandalism, or were using drugs, or selling them or both.
She decided to do something about it.
“That’s when things went crazy,” Williams said.
She said she believes Satan, “the enemy,” was trying to discourage her from beginning the ministry. Someone urinated on her apartment door, and she heard someone got a gun.
Williams persevered, and the apartment management let her use the clubhouse to minister to the young people. The ministry was called Teens With a Purpose. Later members of the group, some who are siblings of earlier members, voted to change the name to Heart of Excellence.
One of their latest projects is handcrafting personalized memorial plaques, one for each of the 26 victims of the Sandy Hook school shootings in Connecticut, along with a poem written by Williams’ 14-year-old daughter, Rai-Leigh. The plaques will be sent to Newtown.
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More power to you
Perhaps while you are praying you could think of praying for the planet earth.
It is the only tangible thing we have and it is burdened by six billion people that are eating and destroying it by their very existence.
Would GOD put 200 goldfish in a goldfish bowl built for two? Ask him.. lemme know what he says, I am all ears.
Good luck to your crusade, I hope it works out.
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